Since becoming Blessed Earth’s Northwest Director of Operations in the summer of 2015, Dr. A.J. Swoboda has been meeting with Christian colleges and seminaries throughout the northwest region. In the last few months, ten schools have joined or are in the process of joining the Seminary Stewardship Alliance (SSA), a consortium of schools committed to reconnecting Christians with the biblical call to care for God’s creation.

Four years ago, George Fox Evangelical Seminary became the first Northwest school to make this public, institutional commitment. In the last four months, every school that Dr. Swoboda visited has responded positively to joining the SSA. The ground has proven fertile as Christians across denominations work alongside one another for a common goal, namely, the care of creation.

This movement amongst Christian educational institutions is also opening doors to non-religious neighbors all across the Northwest. Environmental stewardship is part of faithful witness in the twenty-first century. As environmental stewardship becomes a central tenet at the institutional level, it becomes more than an area of study, but an integral part of Christian life and witness. Students are being filled with the desire, and equipped with the ability, to nurture the earth. In turn, doors are opened to witness to people in our communities who already care about creation, but who do not yet know the God who created it all.

An encouraging outcome can be seen at the most recent school to join, New Hope Christian College in Eugene, Oregon. New Hope has started a campus garden where students can grow food and learn to care for the land together.

The SSA was started as a project of Blessed Earth, with a signing ceremony of twelve flagship schools at the Washington National Cathedral in April 2012. In 2015, the SSA spun off as an independent nonprofit, where Matthew and Nancy Sleeth continue to provide leadership as members of the SSA board. The SSA now has grown to nearly fifty schools. For more information, visit seminaryalliance.org.